Steel Vengeance

Cedar Point revealed in 1990 that a new roller coaster would be built for the 1991 season. It was officially named Mean Streak on October 24, 1990.[3] Construction began two months earlier in late August 1990 with land preparation.[4] It continued through the rest of the year and spring of the following year.[5][6] Mean Streak opened with the park's seasonal debut on May 11, 1991,[7] in the Frontiertown section of the park behind one of Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad's stations.[8] The ride's media day press conference was held on May 22, 1991.[9]

Mean Streak was one of eleven roller coasters designed and manufactured by Ohio-based Dinn Corporation before the company went out of business in 1992.[10] It was a twister coaster model designed by Curtis D. Summers, and the ride cost $7.5 million to construct.[7][11][12] In September 2010, a small 5-foot (1.5 m) section caught fire, which was quickly contained by firefighters to a small portion of the ride.[13]

On August 1, 2016, Cedar Point announced that Mean Streak would offer its last rides to the public on September 16, 2016.[14][15] Park officials, however, declined to confirm that the ride was being torn down.[16] Following its closure, unconfirmed rumors emerged that the roller coaster was being refurbished by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC), a manufacturing company well known for its restoration work on existing wooden roller coasters.[17]

Cedar Point began teasing the public on the ride's future with the release of an 18-second teaser video entitled "They're Coming" on April 1, 2017.[18] Cedar Point showed video shots briefly panning several elements of the rumored conversion.[18] Another similar video showing snippets of the new ride was released a few months later in June.[19] Three more videos were released over the summer of 2017, with catchphrases "They're rollin' in like thunder", "There's a score to settle", and "They stake their claim."[20] On August 16, 2017, Cedar Point held an official announcement for Steel Vengeance.[21] It was also announced that a virtual recreation of the ride would be made available in the PC video game, Planet Coaster.[22]

Steel Vengeance opened to the public on May 5, 2018,[23] but a minor collision between two trains forced Steel Vengeance to remain closed for most of its opening day.[24][25] The coaster resumed operation with only a single train while RMC investigated the issue and made modifications.[26][27] The ride was closed on certain weekday mornings to allow RMC to make repairs.[28] The park temporarily removed the ride from its Fast Lane Plus lineup and considered timed boarding passes as a result of its limited capacity.[26][28] Normal two-train operation resumed on June 1, 2018.[29][30]

Following an incident on Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion, where a phone hit a rider in the face during the ride, Cedar Point issued a temporary ban on cell phones when entering the ride's queue beginning in August 2018.[31][32] The ban was lifted the following season after zipper pouches were installed on the trains to safely secure loose items.[33][34] Metal detectors were installed in the queue, ensuring that all loose articles were placed in these pouches.[35] The pouches were removed in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the previous ban was reinstated.[36]

After leaving the station, the Mean Streak train passed through the storage tracks and made a 180-degree turn to the right, before ascending the 161-foot-tall (49 m) lift hill. After cresting the top of the hill, the train dropped 155 feet (47 m) at a 52-degree-angle, reaching a top speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). While dropping, riders went through a set of trim brakes on the first drop. Riders then went through a 123-foot-tall (37 m) twisted turnaround followed by a small airtime hill, and then another twisted turnaround. The train maneuvered over the lift hill and dipped down to the right. After that, the train traveled through the ride's structure and down another hill, turning to the left into the mid-course brake run. The train then dipped down to the left into another airtime hill. Riders then went through several small airtime hills and turned through the ride's structure followed by the final brake run.[42] One cycle of the ride lasted 3 minutes and 13 seconds, making it the former longest duration of any roller coaster at Cedar Point.[7][43]

When Mean Streak opened in 1991, it was the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world and featured the longest drop.[11] Upon closure in 2016, Mean Streak had the seventh tallest lift, the tenth fastest speed, the fourth longest track-length and the seventh longest drop.[44][45][46][47]

Steel Vengeance in the background

After leaving the station, the train makes a 180 degree right turn, passes over two small bunny hills, and begins its ascent up the 205-foot-tall (62 m) chain lift hill. After cresting the top of the lift hill, the train drops 200 feet (61 m) at a 90-degree angle, reaching its maximum speed of 74 mph (119 km/h). After this drop, the train traverses a small airtime hill, followed by a climb into a larger airtime hill, which drops riders slightly to the right. Next, the train climbs up a 116-foot (35 m) left outward banked hill,[48] dips slightly right, and passes over another small airtime hill, which leads to the first inversion, a zero-g roll.

A train entering the first inversion

After this, the train dips right, passes underneath the lift hill, and traverses an overbanked right turn, which leads into the second inversion, a half stall, that sees the train pass through the lift hill structure for a second time. Then, the train dips straight, passes over a small airtime hill, and climbs up a hill. The train then makes an upward left-hand turn, which leads to the mid-course brake run. Following this, the train makes another sharp left turn into a short, steep drop slightly to the left. Next, the train navigates an upward, slightly overbanked turn to the left, traverses another airtime hill, then upward into a slightly overbanked left turn. This is followed by a small drop into a high-speed overbanked left turn, which leads into the third inversion, a zero-g roll. Next is a double-up into another high-speed overbanked left turn, which leads into the fourth inversion, a final zero-g roll. Next, another overbanked left turn into an airtime hill, followed by four more airtime hills, which lead to the final brake run back into the station. One cycle of the ride lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds.[49]